Adam Silver says new taking rules will mean teams 'have no particular incentive to be bad'

Tanking was particularly intense this season — with nine teams actively not looking to win games by the end of the season — because this is a particularly deep and strong draft class. That is not expected to be the case the next couple of seasons, at least, because the next two draft classes are not expected to be particularly strong. The league could have done nothing, and there would be less tanking next year.

The league's 3-2-1 proposal breaks out like this:

• The teams with the three worst records in the league would fall into a "relegation zone" and be penalized by only getting two lottery balls, not three like other teams that missed the playoffs. Those three teams would have a 5.4% chance at the No. 1 pick, and could fall as far as 12th in the draft.

• Other teams that missed the playoffs — teams four through 10 at the bottom of the standings — would get three lottery balls and an 8.1% chance at the No. 1 pick.

• Teams that finish as the No. 9 and 10 seeds in each conference will each get two lottery balls.

• Teams that lose the 7-8 play-in for each conference get one lottery ball (2.7% chance of landing the No. 1 pick).

• Teams cannot win the No. 1 pick in consecutive years or have three consecutive top-five picks (as an example, this would not have allowed the Spurs to draft Dylan Harper No. 2 last season, pairing him with Victor Wembanyama and Stephon Castle, both top-five picks).

• This system would expire in 2029, at which time it could be extended, modified or scrapped entirely.

• There are reports that teams expect there to be less trading of first-round picks as part of packages to get star players because the value of those picks feels diluted. Teams will want to see how the new system plays out (or what it will look like in a few years) before moving picks as they have in recent years.

While the 3-2-1 plan may disincentivize a "race to the bottom" to get the best lottery odds, this system of more teams and flatter odds also means the teams struggling to win games because they don't have enough talent on the roster will find it harder to get that talent through the draft. For many smaller and mid-market teams, the draft is the best and only way to get the kind of talent that makes them a top-four team in the conference; free agents are not going to flock there.

Silver is concerned about how tanking turns off fans, but another way to lose an entire market of fans is for their team to keep losing or being mediocre for years because they can't get the talent to win and have lessened hope of doing so.

The NBA Board of Governors is expected to pass this plan when it meets later in May.